A Canadian man was fined $15,000 last week after he smuggled thousands of live leeches into the country last October.

Ippolit Bodounov of Niagara Falls, Ontario, arrived at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Oct. 17, 2018, with live leeches in his carry-on luggage, according to a statement from government agency Environment and Climate Change Canada. He was flying into the country from Russia.

Bodounov transported 4,788 leeches, according to the agency. .

An officer from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Enforcement Branch investigated whether the leech species Bodounov tried to import was legal.

A Canadian man was fined $15,000 last week after he smuggled thousands of live leeches into the country last October.(Photo: Environment Climate Change Canada)

It wasn't.

The species in question, Hirudo verbana, is a medicinal leech species subject to regulations meant to control wildlife trade. Bodounov didn't have a permit to import the leeches, which are regulated due to over-harvesting, and was charged accordingly. He plead guilty to the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act.

This act adheres to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), "an international treaty that protects endangered and threatened species of animals and plants from over-exploitation by regulating their international trade," according to the statement.

The species in question, Hirudo verbana, is a medicinal leech species subject to regulations meant to control wildlife trade.(Photo: Environment Climate Change Canada)

Bodounov also has to forfeit the animals and cannot import, export or possess animals regulated by CITES for a year, on top of the $15,000 fine.

Illegal wildlife trade is estimated to be worth as much as $20 billion every year, according to the same statement.

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Animals in airports have been increasingly making headlines, so we've rounded up some of the most interesting and shocking critter stories. Scroll through to learn about stories ranging from emotional support pet situations gone wrong to smuggled animals. In January 2018, a support peacock was barred from a United Airlines flight. Despite the peacock's owner buying an extra seat for the animal, United spokeswoman Andrea Hiller said the customer was told three times before she came to the airport that the peacock would not be able to take flight with her. Rene Johnson via AP

A Florida woman is suing American Airlines after she says she and her emotional support dog were mistreated on an April trip from Miami to Los Angeles. In the lawsuit, the woman claims a flight attendant said the dog could not stay in the cabin because it’s an FAA violation. She also says the airline downgraded herfrom business class and quarantined her dog in a bathroom. Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Special to USA TODAY

In October 2018, a woman was escorted off her Frontier Airlines flight after bringing her emotional support squirrel on board. Cindy Torok told FOX 8 News that she called the airline ahead of time to get clearance and even made it through TSA with her 11-week-old squirrel, Daisy, before the airline forced her to leave the plane. Jonathan Freed, director of corporate communications at Frontier Airlines, said "rodents, including squirrels, are not allowed on Frontier flights." Simon Dux / iStock

In May 2018, a 10-month-old French bulldog named Kokito died after being placed in an overhead bin on a United Airlines flight despite being in a TSA-compliant pet carrier. After the passenger was seated, a United flight attendant is said to have insisted that the pet carrier – and dog – must be stowed in an overhead bin instead of underneath the flier's seat. Kokito was found dead from suffocation after the flight from Houston arrived to Newark Airport. According to TMZ, the family reached a settlement with United, although terms were not revealed. Mary Altaffer, AP

Delta had to apologize to a Michigan man in November 2018 after he sat in feces left behind by a service dog. Bay City resident Matthew Meehan had already sat down on his flight from Atlanta to Miami on Nov. 1 when he realized there was dog poop all over his seat and the surrounding floor, he told news outlets. "I was literally in it," he said. Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP

A Colorado college student was forced to abandon her pet fish before boarding a Southwest Airlines flight in December 2018. But her pink pet Betta fish, Cassie, was in good hands at Denver International Airport, where airport workers decided to care for the pet while the student went on vacation. Kimpton Hotels

A video went viral of two flydubai passengers bringing three falcons onboard during a flight from Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. But bringing these animals aboard in the Middle East isn't atypical at all. The airline told USA TODAY in a statement: "Please note that falcons are important to the culture of the (United Arab Emirates), and we regularly welcome our feathered friends on board." KARIM SAHIB, AFP/Getty Images

In January 2019, a 45-year-old man from Singapore tried to smuggle four live kittens, hidden in his pants, across a security checkpoint at the Malaysia-Singapore border, but the meows gave him away. Importation of animals into Singapore without a license is illegal and carries a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine, imprisonment for up to a year, or both. Tania Savayan/The Journal News

A passenger traveling from Hong Kong tried to smuggle 1,529 exotic live turtles into the Philippines in March 2019, which were worth approximately $87,000. Customs turned the animals over to the DENR Wildlife Traffic Monitoring Unit. Illegal wildlife trading violates several laws in the Philippines and could result in prison time and fines. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP

In September 2017, the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport brought anxious travelers a new ally: therapy dogs. The Navigator Buddies program, which is staffed by volunteers and their certified therapy dogs, was modeled after popular pet therapy programs at dozens of airports across the country and in Canada. Tom Tingle/The Republic

Therapy gators? In November 2018, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) upped the animals-at-the-airport ante with alligators. The Audubon Nature Institute began bringing live baby alligators to the baggage-claim area, ecouraging passengers to pose for an “MSY Gator Selfie.” Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

A college student who says she was assured she could fly home with her emotional support hamster on Spirit Airlines in February 2018 says when she got to the airport she was told to flush it down the toilet. "It was horrible. I sat in a stall for about 15 minutes and just cried and cried," she told People. Spirit acknowledged that an employee did incorrectly tell Aldecosea that her hamster could accompany her but denies that one of its employees told her to kill the animal. Getty Images/iStockphoto

A passenger flying into John F. Kennedy International Airport in December 2018 was caught trying to smuggle 70 live birds after traveling from Georgetown, Guyana, in South America. The dozens of finches were hidden inside green and orange hair rollers in a black duffel bag, the law enforcement agency said in a statement at the time. U. S. Customs and Border Protection

In December 2018, a member of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's beagle brigade sniffed out a surprise hitch-hiker in a traveler's suitcase: a live giant African millipede. CBP Agriculture Specialists collected the nearly 6-inch insect from inside a the suitcase of a couple that had just traveled from Johannesburg, South Africa on the way to South Carolina. The couple was unsure how the millipede found its way into their baggage but was grateful to go home without the unwanted guest. Tori Schneider/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, Tori Schneider/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

A man was caught sneaking a live snake into Germany's Berlin-Schonefeld Airport before a flight to Israel on Dec. 24, 2018. Officials reported the 43-year-old man was stopped at a security check when "employees noticed that he carried something in his pants that did not belong there." Courtesy of Hauptzollamt Postsdam

Customs officials in India intercepted a passenger after his flight who was trying to smuggle a 1-month-old leopard cub through Chennai International Airport in February 2019. The animal was discovered in the 45-year-old man's checked luggage. James Soyez

A German man tried smuggling three Moroccan tortoises disguised as "chocolates" in a pastry box through Schönefeld Airport in Berlin. The animals were confiscated and placed under veterinarian care. According to officials, the man faces fines up to 50,000 euros (or about $56,700) or up to five years in jail. Courtesy of Hauptzollamt Potsdam

In December 2015, holiday travelers at South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach International Airport got an unexpected surprise after a wild coyote made its way into a terminal building. The 60-pound animal is thought to have entered the airport through an opening where baggage handlers load luggage from the airport tarmac onto baggage carousels. The animal was eventually cornered and captured. National Park Service